Thbodoee a



(No Model.)

T. A.. TAYLOR.

TAP HOLE-CLOSER. I

' No. 374,855. Patented Dec. 13,1887.

PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE A. TAYLOR, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NE? YORK.

TAP-HOLE CLOSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,855, dated December 13, 1887.

Application filed June 9,1887. Serial No. 240,740. ('No model.)

' and useful Improvements in Tap-Hole Closers;

and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the inven-.

tion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I a

My invention relates to valves or gates for closing the tap-holes of ale or beer barrels; and the object thereof is to prevent such barrels from becoming sour or -foul and musty after being emptied of their contents; also, a further object thereof is to so construct the valve or gate that when opened beyond a certain point it will remain open, so as not to interfere with the operation of inserting the faucet or cleaning the barrel.

To these ends my invention comprises certain other novel features of construction and arrangement or combination of parts, .which will be hereinafter fully disclosed in the description and claims.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, referenceis made to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 illustrates a portion'of a barrelhead with my improved valve or gate applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa sectional view of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an end or outer face view of the head of the bolt, showing the straight and curvedportions which form the cam-surface, and also the end of the coiled spring which rides over said cam-surface in opening and closing the valve or gate. v

To those who are familiar with the handling of malt and other fermented liquors it is well known that after the casks or barrels containing them have been emptied, if the interiors of the barrels be exposed to air they soon become foul and sour, thus rendering them difiicult to clean and injurious to the flavor of the liquors afterward placed therein; also, it is well known that when solid impurities gain access to the interiors of such barrels they quickly become musty or moldy, and therefore practically useless until unheaded, cleaned,

and reheaded. As it is through the open tapholes of barrels that such injurious substances enter, my improvementis applied to such tapholes, and, as will be evident, will prevent the injurious results above mentioned.

In the drawings, A designates a portion of the head of a barrel or cask, and a the tap hole thereof.

B in Figs. 1 and 2 designates the gate or valve, which is of circular or disk form, and the under face thereof is provided with a washer, b, of leather or other like pliable or soft material, for tightly closing the hole a when said valve is placed in position over the same. This valve is formed with a radial extension, b the extremity of which is formed with a hollow cylindrical enlargement, t, which will be hereinafter more particularly described.

B designates a bar, which is secured upon the barrel-head A by screws b, or other similar means, so as to extend parallel with but on a different line from the extension 22' of the valve B. At. one end this bar B is formed with a hollow cylindrical enlargement, b.

O designates a headed bolt, which extends through the enlargements b and b and is secured therein by a nut, c, which is screwed upon one end of the same.

D designates a spiral spring which surrounds the bolt 0, and the ends thereof abut I against internal flanges, b b, of the respective enlargements b and b. The extremities of the spring D are bent outward and laterally, as shown at d and d, and extend through orifices I) and b", which are formed in the flanges b b, respectively. The head 0 of the bolt 0 is made straight-at opposite points of its periphery, as shown at 0, so as to leave intermediate curved portions, 0, between the portions 0. Each set of these straight and curved portions of the bolt-head constitutes a camsurface, over which the extremity d of the spring will ride in opening and closing the valve. By virtue of this arrangement and construction of the parts it will be evident that when the valve is raised to an ordinary extent the extremity d of the spring will ride against one or the other of the curved portions 0 of the bolt-head, so that the valve thus hold the valve raised till it is forced back upon the curved portion of the bolt-head.

The valve prevents the entrance of air and impurities to the interior of the barrel, and,

while partly automatic in its action, does not interfere with the necessary cleaning of the barrel and the application of the spigot or faucet.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein is p 1. In atap-holeeloser, the combination,with the gate or valve having the extension and hollow enlargement and the bar also having the hollow enlargement, said enlargements having internal apertured flanges, of the bolt extending through the said hollow enlargements, the spiral spring surrounding said bolt and having its extremities fitted in the apertures in said flanges, and a cam-surface formed on the head of said bolt and against which one extremity of said spring acts to hold said gate or valve in open position, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the gate or valve having the extension and hollow enlargement and the bar having also the hollow enlargement, of the bolt extending through the said enlargements and provided with a head having straight and curved surfaces at opposite points of its periphery, and the spiral spring surrounding the bolt, inclosed within said enlargements, secured at its ends to the walls thereof and having one of its extremities projecting over-said bolt-head, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE A. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

M. L. BENTELE, WM. H. DIAMOND. 

